Slick Tricks: Aka Household Hacks

[EtheltoTillie]

My final comment as a stain-removal enthusiast is that a long soak in Oxyclean solution (powder mixed in a basin of cool or lukewarm water) works, even on set in stains.  I leave those soaks for a couple of days. 

[Bastet]

I use hydrogen peroxide for blood if it's fresh, but if I don't spot it until it has dried, I make an OxyClean paste and rub that in.

As for the measuring cap on the big jugs of laundry detergent, I just rinse it using the water that's pouring into the machine; that way it's always clean when I put it back on, so I don't wind up with that ring of sticky detergent at the bottom of it.  There are drip catchers available, too; I don't use them, but my parents do.

[SoMuchTV]

36 minutes ago, Bastet said:

As for the measuring cap on the big jugs of laundry detergent, I just rinse it using the water that's pouring into the machine; that way it's always clean when I put it back on, so I don't wind up with that ring of sticky detergent at the bottom of it.  There are drip catchers available, too; I don't use them, but my parents do.

I did that as well (rinsing the cap in the water input) when I had a top loader, but that doesn't work so well for front loaders.  Fortunately all the liquid detergent bottles I've bought lately are designed so the drips drain back into the bottle when you put the cap back on.  Except the value-size giant keg, which I can portion out into one of the "good" bottles.  And now I'm back where I came in 😉

I hadn't seen those drip catchers before.  Someone saw a market and filled a need!

[Jane Tuesday]

You can also make one yourself out of a soda bottle.  (My grandma always used one on her beverage coolers at family gatherings.)  :)

[peacheslatour]

My mom taught me that you can keep your scissors nice and ungunked by cutting wax paper with them occasionally.

[Nordly Beaumont]

On 1/23/2023 at 1:52 PM, Bastet said:

I use hydrogen peroxide for blood if it's fresh, but if I don't spot it until it has dried, I make an OxyClean paste and rub that in.

This reminds me of when a friend needed to get blood out of carpet (not a murder! His husband fell and skinned his knee). I told him when my friend Sarah was a paramedic, she used hydrogen peroxide to get blood out of her uniform. He seemed so confused, he just didn't seem to be getting it. I clarified that he should just dab the spot with hydrogen peroxide. He said "Okay... but... when Sarah was a paramedic... why did she have a UNICORN?"

I regret that I didn't answer "Because they couldn't afford ambulances."

[EighteenTwelve]

Does anybody have any good tricks to get animal tear stains off fabric?  I have a cat with a runny eye who likes to sleep on my cotton quilt, and Google gave me results for removing tear stains from the cat, not from the bedding.